Rough and Ready (More Than A Cowboy #2) - Vanessa Vale Page 0,16
to fold, and out into the lobby. No Harper. No Larry. I glanced out into the parking lot. Empty. She wouldn’t take the elevator to her apartment, which meant—
Pulling out my key pass from my pocket, I slapped it against the wall sensor, then opened the heavy door to the emergency stairs. There, against the concrete wall, was Harper. Larry was looking down at her and stroking his knuckles along her upper arm. The scene was fucking odd. Larry in his workout clothes, a white muscle shirt and black shorts. He was gangly and had curly hair that was like a dark mop on top of his head—and on his chest. He had the physique of a runner; no amount of weight lifting would get him to bulk up.
For a guy, he wasn’t hideous, but his personality was of a dead fish. A dead fish who wanted to get in the pants of any woman who was conscious. He might even try for ones who weren’t.
They whipped their heads in my direction when I interrupted them. Harper didn’t have the look of a woman who wanted to fuck. No heated gaze, no lip biting or flushed cheeks, no aggressive hands. She just looked stunned to see me.
Larry straightened, turned to face me. “Reed, I was just—”
“Leaving,” I said, finishing for him. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stared him down. I didn’t want to lay him out, but I would if he didn’t step the fuck away from Harper.
He lifted his hands as if he were being robbed. “Hey, she propositioned me.”
I clenched my fists. Wrong answer. He was putting this whole thing on Harper. Yeah, he was a sucker for a beautiful woman, but she hadn’t been leading him out of the gym by his dick. I didn’t give a shit if a woman wanted to fuck. It was her prerogative as much as any guy, but Larry didn’t have to be a douchebag about it. Shaming Harper wasn’t the way to get beneath that pencil skirt.
Larry narrowed his eyes and studied me then looked to Harper then back. “Are you—”
“Going to kill you?” I asked, my voice taking on an edge it didn’t have before. “That’s up to you.”
His eyebrows rose to disappear beneath his hair. He sighed, dropped his hands to his sides and moved past me to open the door. “Sorry, my bad.”
I didn’t watch him leave, only waited for the heavy slam to know we were alone.
Harper wouldn’t look at me. Her hands were flat against the concrete wall at her sides, as if it was holding her up.
I looked her over, took in her prim work clothes, the way her hair fell forward to shield her face. “Do you really want him, Harper?”
She turned to me, narrowed her dark eyes. “You have no right.”
“If you really want to fuck Larry, I’ll go back and get him. Even apologize.” I paused, but she didn’t respond. “Do you want me to do that?”
She pursed her lips. “No.”
“You want to fuck?” I put a hand on my chest. “I’m right here.”
Her mouth fell open, and she looked at me in outrage. She didn’t need to use fists to take me down, just that glare.
“I don’t want to—”
“Then what were you doing with Larry?”
“I…I—” She looked away, knowing I’d caught her in her own lie. “Just leave me alone.”
She started to climb the stairs, but I grabbed her wrist before she made it far.
“Oh, no. You approached Larry for a reason.” I tugged her, so she turned and faced me. With her on the steps, she was a few inches taller than me. “Does he make you wet, princess?”
Her cheeks flushed, and she pulled against my hold. If Larry didn’t make her hot, then why did she go to him?
“I’m not answering that,” she snapped. Every line in her body was filled with tension. I had to assume she knew no self-defense, otherwise she’d have broken my nose by now or worse, kneed me in the nuts. I turned my hips a little though, just in case.
“Because the answer is no. You wanted to fuck him but weren’t interested.”
“What’s wrong with that?” she countered, clearly offended. “What’s wrong with a woman wanting a quick release?”
“Absolutely nothing.” The idea of seeing Harper come, hearing the sounds she’d make, made me hard. “You want to get off.”
When she just crossed her arms and stared down at me with that stern librarian look, I’d had enough.